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Harro! You've reached the MUSIC section of IC RADIO.
Our ace-core team of music lovers will be reviewing CD's, interviewing bands and yapping about musical topics all year long.

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music@icradio.com
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Wednesday, 25 November 2009

Snow patrol – Just Say Yes


Traipsing into the unfamiliar territory of electronic/synthesised music Snow Patrol’s flagship song Just Say Yes, from their new Up to Now album, hit the UK charts at 29. Although coming in below the top 20 mark I can see this track climbing the ladder. The subdued sound of Mr Lightbody (the lead singer) accompanied by the mellow beat manages to create a warm gripping sensation, well, atleast till you get bored (bout halfway through) as it becomes repetitive and almost sickening. The uninteresting lyrics fall straight into the love pop bin, the lads should have took the hint when the song got rejected by Gwen Stefani and given to Nicole Scherzinger (it didn’t even make HER album). After their peak on the Final Straw album the Patrol seem to be slowly melting away into another puddle to avoid in the rainy street we call the music industry right now. Don’t worry there is sunshine forecast soon!

2/5

Nabeel

Tuesday, 24 November 2009

Fall Out Boy - Alpha Dog


- because you like them wet

To be featured as one of the two new tracks on their Greatest Hits album ‘Believers Never Die’ Alpha Dog was tested in the water on the ‘Welcome to the New Administration’ mixtape and gained the most hype around it. Already one Zane Lowe's Hottest Records Alpha Dog is gaining more and more playlist momentum. The Boys manage to pull off the flips in pace and voice to keep you listening from start to finish. Not a bad track by any means, but the fact that they're bringing out a Greatest Hits album when I can't think of more than a handful of decent tracks is a massive turn off. If you're a fan then I'm sure you'll love this track, if you're anyone and eveyone else then it might be a grower if you're lucky, otherwise it’s the same old generic whiny ish we've come to expect from these ageing Boys.
2.5/5

- By Nabeel

Friday, 20 November 2009

Random News and Chat

Hey, I'm back.

I'm sorry I know you missed me, I have just been recovering from Hospitality at matter... Which was errrrrrr like 3 weeks ago? Oops, bare shoulda reviewed it for you. In fact I will do it now;
TOO GOOD FOR WORDS TO DESCRIBE!!!

I wanted to quickly share 2 things with you.

One: Pendulums first remix since timeeeeee ago, who do they remix... Plan B. It is such an immense choon, a complete journey as the track unfolds, check it out please Plan B stay too long Pendulum remix.

Two: Web techy shizzle... UK Radioplayer to give web users access to every station in Britain
HOORAYYYYY FOR RADIO LAND
http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/tv_and_radio/article6924280.ece

Enjoy

Peace and Love I will be back with more soon No doubt.

Michele Angelo

Thursday, 19 November 2009

COMPETITION! Win 4 Warehouse Project tix for NYE

harrow..nice place.

IC Radio has 4 tickets to give away for the Warehouse Project's NYE event! Listen to Roushan's show on Sunday at 2pm till 4pm (THIS SUNDAY!) to enter - it's a real piss easy competition too, so get in there, you and three mates can go get hammered.
The line-up is dope too:
Alex Metric
Cassette Jam
Delphic [ DJ Set ]
Doorly [ Radio 1 ]
Krysko
Greg Lord
Now Wave DJs
Prostitutes & Policemen
Head over to:


Review: Alice in Chains - HMV Forum - 17/11/09

On the back of their first album for 15 years Black Gives Way to Blue Alice in Chains played two sold out shows at Kentish Town's Forum; their first in London since somewhat of a comeback gig at the Astoria in 2006. Support came in the form of Oxford based 2 piece Little Fish, who warmed up a crowd full of anticipation fairly well. Their wifebeater clad front woman led them through a set of fairly solid pop-rock tinged with some interesting breakdown sections, adding a good amount of depth to the setlist. Perhaps one to watch if they can pen a few more catchy numbers and gain a foothold on the playlists of some of the bigger radio stations.

After a short gap new frontman William Duvall lead Alice in Chains onto the stage and into a threefold barrage of pure awesome in the form of Them Bones, Damn that River and Rain When I Die, the first 3 songs from '92's seminal Dirt. Executed with towering precision they started as they meant to go on, sounding at least as massive as in their 90's heyday, to the delight of a somewhat vintage crowd.

The band charged energetically through 2 hours of old and new songs alike without a hiccough, except for a problem with the projector system crashing and spitting up a Windows error and a slight loss of clarity in the sound at some of the louder moments of the show. Highlights included a sit down acoustic interlude complete with performances of Heaven Beside You and the stand out title track from the eponymous new album, as well as a triumphant encore finish to old favourites Would? and Rooster.

Most importantly the band seemed to be truly at home on stage. Duvall strutted around magnificently, reaching out towards the crowd as if his utter salvation depended upon it. After all these years guitarist Jerry Cantrell seemed to be enjoying himself more than ever which was very much echoed by the crowd. The world of heavy metal music is a much better one with Alice in Chains back in it, they return to London for another show at Brixton Academy in December, I already have my ticket and shall be counting the down the days!

Tori Amos and Flip Review Double Whammy!

Flip Extremely Sorry Soundtrack - Various

Most skateboarding movies feature a load of rad clips of gnarly dudes popping flip tricks down 20-sets set to a seemingly arbitrary collection of cool songs. For their latest vid Extremely Sorry skate pioneers Flip have decided to buck the trend and create a bespoke set of songs to
go with it. Rowley and co. have amassed an impressive collection of artists including Lemmy, Dave Lombardo and Snoop Dogg which does make forsome interesting songs. Highlights include a cover of Stand By Me with Lemmy on vocals and Swagger Rich, a rock-come-rap track featuring the D-O-double-G and Warren G. The album suffers in parts from producer Baron treading into unfamiliar areas, making for some filler, but what it looses here it makes up for in creating a much more cohesive collection of music to than the usual collection of somewhat disjointed tracks.

You can pick up Flip - Extremely Sorry and Soundtrack now from all good skate stores (buy local kids), whet your appetite here.

Tori Amos - Midwinter Graces Sampler

Billed as he first 'seasonal album' Midwinter Graces contains reworked Christmas carols along with original music, A Silent Night With You and Star of Wonder feature on this sampler. Backing is provided by Orchestra and Bag Band, harking back to Amos's more classically inspired work of the mid-nineties. Pleasantly left of centre, Midwinter Graces offers a nice easy listen that should appeal to most musical palettes.

Midwinter Graces is available now from record shops across the land!


Tuesday, 17 November 2009

Deadmau5 - Ghosts and stuff


What started out as one of Deadmau5's first great tracks is released to the masses with the additional vocals of Rob Swire from Pendulum.

Ghost's and Stuff was a truly brilliant track on it's own. It stood out from the rest of the electro and house scene due to it's striking synths and pounding beat. The vocals on top simply aren't needed. If it was absolutely necessary to do so for general release then Rob Swire was certainly the wrong person for the job. The vocal's remove the originality from the record and replace it with a commercial, possibly even manufactured sound. The original track was a resounding 9 maybe even 10 out of 10. This new version with Rob Swire is sadly nothing more than a 6.

6/10
Chris Haggart

La Roux - Quicksand remixes



One of the biggest breakthrough acts in 2009, La Roux, is going from strength to strength. No small thanks to the prolific remixes that have made her music even more accessible from the likes of Zinc and Skream.
Quicksand receives the remix treatment from Boy 8-bit and Mad Decent.
Boy 8-Bit's offering provides a stripped back version with the steel pan taking a far more prominent role. It's a club friendly, faster version of the original but still retains La Roux's unique vocals. 7/10

I'm a big fan of Diplo and all things Mad Decent (Diplo's label). He still retains the title of best DJ set I've seen (WHP last year). The Mad Decent remix 1 is a relaxed, chilled take on Quicksilver. Very easy to listen to and perhaps more a night-closer rather than a peak time belter, though that's never a bad thing. 8/10

I'm a little confused about remix 2. It's got some of the hallmarks of a dub step version but the bass line isn't that heavy and there is no bass drop even though the tempo is that of a dub step track. Could have been much better 5/10

Chris Haggart

Monday, 9 November 2009

Music Team Sessions no.1





IC RADIO MUSIC TEAM SESSIONS no. 1
Look how much fun we had.
Yes
Funds was had.
Come join us for our next session...deets coming up soon

Passion Pit - Little secrets

- They look like Imperial grads, except they can still smile.

Another gem from this electro-dance outfit. The synth into gets you from the word go, and the vocals are sublime, almost Jackson 5 brilliant. Much like Justice and Simian, when these guys do dance, they do it amazingly. A little more ‘conservative’ than some of their other stuff (try Sleepyhead) but this will easily slither into the clubs as well as the indie nights. The production is slick – great beep beep noises from all directions and a nice hearty texture of sound. Overall, brills.
5/5
Lia Han

Codeine Velvet Club - Vanity Kills


Big band start! Win! Yes, big band is coming back (from the ass of Amy Winehouse and now the Noisettes etc). Codeine Velvet club truly surprise me...I was expecting an indie band, maybe some cute girl vocals and howls. But no, this is pure pop and brass. Not the best song I’ve heard but it’s different enough to stand out. It’s the kind of song you’d expect to be picked for James Bond film.

3/5
Lia Han

Tuesday, 3 November 2009

MUSIC SESSIONS PLAYLIST

Gary Numan - Cars
Radiohead - Stupid Car
Toto - Hold the Line
Faith no more - Jizz lobber
Stone roses - I wanna be adored
Wagamama - Wagamama

IS THIS WAGAMAMA? TELL US!!!!
Answers on a postcard pulesase. We want to sell you to Wagamama (yum yum noodle places) and make you lots of monies.

Anyway, carrying on with the playlist...

Echo and the bunnymen - Ocean Rain
Tears for Fears - Head over heels

AND THATS IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1 FINITO! GOODBYE. LOVE YOU ALL. MISS YOU ALREADY.

THE FIRST EVER MUSIC TEAM SESSIONS!!

We are on air now, playing throwback music from the 70's, 80's and 90's. Overdose on sweet sweet vinyl and enjoy!

So far we've played

New Order - Blue Monday
Duran Duran - Rio

But we are STILL ON, till 11pm!!!!!

The Dead Weather - It Cuts like a Buffalo


Jack White’s most recent supergroup “The Dead Weather” releases it’s latest single, “It Cut’s Like A Buffalo” from the debut album Horehound. It’s not as aggressive as their previous single, Treat Me Like Your Mother. Instead, there’s a mellower, almost plodding, approach with dark organ backing throughout. The sinister bass guitar driven introduction creates a dark atmosphere that will be very familiar to Jack White fans. Scratchy guitar riff’s appear towards the middle of the track but die away almost instantly as the organ takes hold of the track once more. While there isn’t too much new ground here for fans of the group’s respective previous bands it is still a good track. The Dead Weather do have a second album in the pipeline, although it remains to be seen how far into the long term the group will continue to tour and record music together with rumours of a seventh White Stripes album on the way.
By Chris Haggart

Language, Glitches, THR and Straight Laces

(Picture: Language)
It’s a Tuesday night at the Buffalo bar in Islington and having just paid £5 entry we find ourselves reeled in by the complimentary (or so we thought) pinball machine. It just so happens that someone has kindly left four credits in the tank, a precursor for the performances to come maybe?

Well it didn’t take long for us to find out. As we mulled over our failures with the pinball machine, Strait Laces took to the stage. The ‘Belfastian’ trio play punchy-rock-pop and they play it with gusto. I found the energy put into the performance quite admirable considering the stock still audience of about 10. All in all it was a decent set with a few filler tracks but included some quite catchy little gems such as “Clap” and “Romantic Issues”. “Romantic Issues” being the standout track with its infectious riff and energetic punch courtesy of the lead singer.

Next up were The Half Rabbits hailing from Oxford. This heralded a distinct change in pace and energy. The four piece played more laid back atmospheric rock a-la Interpol, except without being anywhere near as good as Interpol. They never really escaped the realms of mediocrity for me and ended up finishing a passable set with their new “single” which actually was the only decent track.

To end the night we would be treated with two bands from London. Glitches were first up, with their skinny jeans, worn out footwear and trendy haircuts they could have been mistaken as yet another generic Indie band. Comprising of a drummer on a drum machine, a guitarist, a bassist (very tall) and a singer on keyboards Glitches play a delicous mix of electro, rock and dance (think the Klaxons). Combining fast paced drumming with synth punch and an excellent guitarist (probably the best thing about Glitches) they played a storming set, a welcome change in pace from the previous act. The highlight of the set “Caliguila: The Monster” employed chip tune-esque synth, high pitched chanting and soaring guitar riffs to good effect. from a promising new band, with a free demo CD to boot.

Last to take to the stage and the ‘Headline’ band of sorts, were “Language”. The three-piece are helmed by Mark (with the topknot) who guides the audience through Language’s snare driven drumming and synth driven melodies (initiated by the drummer) with bundles of charisma. Although starting off a little weak Language soon hit their stride prompting the audience to respond with shouts of “I love you mark” and outbursts of unintelligible spanish. Highlight’s of the set include the strangely named “The future of woody allen” and “The devil is me”. The latter being particularly interesting as Mark simply ‘talksings’ through most of the song, a nice touch considering the song’s subject matter. It was an enjoyable set and a great way to end the night of performances.

My personal highlight of the night was Glitches and I will be looking out for future material coming from them with some interest.

Cheng Lao

Alabama 3 - Jacqueline (release: Nov 23rd)


Yet another fun fusion of styles by Alabama 3. ‘Jaqueline’ is a cool blend of rock, pop, blues, with a hint of country. ‘Wild west’ guitar riffs sway you and the hoarse, bass vocals have that jazzy sauciness that again gets you on your feet. Good track; holds up their reputation as a modern, talented band with a good sense of humour; should be popular on the playlists.

Kate Agathos

(Lia - OH MY GOD they look like Cowboy Priests...AMAZEMONT)

Anyway, they are playing a gig on Nov 10th (TUES) at The HMV Forum
9-17 Highgate Road
Kentish Town
London
NW5 1JY
www.kentishtownforum.com

BOOK TICKETS:
www.ticketmaster.co.uk

Sunday, 1 November 2009

SUB FOCUS - could be real

You know what music is about adapting. Diversity, flexibility, showing how skilled you are in as many ways as possible.

All I have to say is waiting for the beat is well worth it... The drop is intense!
At the begining of this track, pianos and all that jazz; you will be saying 'sub focus is this fo' real?!' By the end its

'YES, I'm feeling like this could be REAL!!'

Peace out

Michele angelo